Online Communities More Important To Guys

from the don't-make-me-leave-my-WoW-buddies dept

Despite the fact that more women than men are now online, there still seems to be some perception out there that the internet is still a male-dominated world. Perhaps one reason for that is that men value their online connections more. At least that's the results coming from a new study showing that, on average, men tend to feel stronger connections with online communities. Of course, the report doesn't seem to explore why that is. It could potentially have something to do with the fact that early on, the internet really was male-dominated, and the community structures fit better with typical male interactions. It will be interesting to see if this remains the same, or if, over time, there are better forms of community that allow both men and women to feel equally strongly connected to their online communities.

The stand-up comics may be right...

Maybe males really do like communicating in facts more than females do. It is certainly harder to effectively communicate emotion over text than it is in person, where facts seem to be just as easy regardless of medium.

Please note that I am not implying that women don't like to communicate in facts. I am trying to say that men don't value emotional communication, especially with each other, as much as women do and so the online community experience for men is much closer to being complete.

Re: The stand-up comics may be right...

"Maybe males really do like communicating in facts more than females do. It is certainly harder to effectively communicate emotion over text than it is in person, where facts seem to be just as easy regardless of medium."

Interesting. I suspect that women don't abstract 'facts' from 'how people feel about things' as readily as men do.

N.B., I'm not advocating one over the other, but if that distinction holds up, at least in general terms, it would explain some of what is going on.

I must say that's a pretty funny statement. I'm sure many of us are familiar with the idea of Male Ego, Machismo, or whatever you want to call it. The fact is women are influenced by the same social aspects as guys. A giggle of girls will have similar pecking orders as a mess of boys.

Each group will have some sort of one-upmanship within its ranks. Or challenging each others' masculinity/femininity. The differences are how these social interactions are nuanced.

Unanswered Questiosn

Social community is a very broad term. When associating online community with gender the results vary. Women = Facebook, Men = mIRC/message Boards, video games etc.

Obvious biases aside, it doesn't really seem fair to lump all these things together. There is also no assessment as to the reasons for being involved in online communities in the first place. I suspect the motivation/purpose for seeking the community would play a large role in its perceived value. I also suspect those reasons are different depending on gender.